Sensex gains over 200 points, Nifty50 crosses 18,100 amid mixed global cues; IndusInd, ITC edge higher

Indian equity benchmarks recovered initial losses to move higher in choppy trade on Wednesday amid mixed global cues. Among heavyweights, gains in HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Infosys were offset by losses in Reliance, ICICI Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Both headline indices rose as much as 0.4 per cent in the first 45 minutes of trade. The Sensex rose 241.7 points to 60,897.4 at the strongest level of the day so far, and the Nifty50 climbed to as high as 18,123.3, up 70 points from its previous close. 

At 10 am, the 30-scrip index held on to the green with a gain of 226.2 points at 60,881.9 and the Nifty50 stood at 18,116.1, up 62.80 points from its previous close. 

A total of 36 stocks were in the green in the Nifty50 basket. Tata Steel, Hindalco, the HDFC twins, Wipro, UPL, SBI Life and Grasim were the top gainers, rising 1-2 per cent. 

On the other hand, HDFC Life, Tata Motors, Adani Enterprises, Eicher Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Cipla -- down between 0.7 per cent and 1.3 per cent -- were the top laggards.

Anil Singhvi market view

Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi expects the Nifty to find support at 17,950-18,000 levels, below which, he sees a strong buy zone in the 17,850-17,900 band. He sees the 50-scrip benchmark facing resistance in the 18,075-18,150 zone, followed by a strong sell zone at 18,175-18,250 levels. (Read more on Anil Singhvi's market strategy)

ITC shares edged higher after the cigarette-to-hotel conglomerate announced the acquisition of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand Yoga Bar owner Sproutlife Foods. 

ICICI Prudential and ICICI Lombard succumbed to selling pressure a day after the insurers reported their financial results. 

Analysts awaited more of earnings from India Inc for cues. 

IndusInd Bank shares rose as much as 0.6 per cent to Rs 1,238 apiece on BSE, as investors awaited the lender's quarterly numbers due later in the day. 

Overall market breadth favoured the bulls, with an advance-decline ratio of 4:3 as 1,928 stocks rose and 1,189 fell on BSE. 

"India’s outperformance in 2022 has been temporarily reversed in January 2023 till date mainly due to FII outflows to other markets, mainly China... India’s current underperformance is likely to be temporary since India has the best growth and earnings prospects among large economies. However, concerns of global slowdown this year and the possibility of FIIs again turning sellers at higher levels will cap the upside to the market in the near term," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"From now on, Budget expectations also are likely to influence the market trend," he said.

Global markets

Equities in other Asian markets were a mixed bag, mirroring the trend on Wall Street overnight. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was flat at the last count. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.2 per cent. 

S&P 500 futures were up 0.1 per cent. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 1.1 per cent lower and the S&P 500 declined 0.2 per cent amid weakness in banking stocks, though the tech stocks-heavy Nasdaq Composite eked out a gain of 0.1 per cent.

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